Fanspeak: Okay, okay. The media have spoken-through the...

January 03, 1990|By Mike Conklin.

Fanspeak: Okay, okay. The media have spoken-through the Associated Press poll-and Miami is the college football champion. The coaches agree in the United Press rankings. But what about fans? Through Thursday, they can register sentiment in the Fan Vote telephone poll. It costs $1 a vote, which can be cast by placing a call to the appropriate 1-900 number. The options:

and Notre Dame, 400-6305. Apparently Star Castle Communications, which puts the poll together, didn`t think Florida State should be a candidate before the bowls. Going into New Year`s Day, the voting was Notre Dame, 31 (percent);

Colorado, 30; Michigan, 18; Miami, 13; and Alabama, 7.

- Moneytalk: In Las Vegas, Notre Dame was the big favorite with bettors in the sports book at Caesars Palace. Spokesman Vinny Magliulo said more money was placed on the Orange Bowl than any other game. The Sugar Bowl was second at Caesars. Said Magliulo: ``New Year`s bowl day is usually our biggest and this year was the biggest I can remember. If you translate interest into amount of dollars wagered-and I`m not at liberty to give specific numbers-I can say there was more money on the Irish (who beat the spread) than any other team. Next would be Southern Cal, Michigan, and Illinois.``

- Food for thought: D.B. Kaplan`s deli in Water Tower is out with its jazzy new menu and sports fans have plenty to digest. One Ham Dunk, please. Or how about one of these sandwiches: a Mike Ditka (``lots of tongue and always hot``), Rye Sandberg (``good lookin` ``), William ``Refrigerator`` Perry

(three-foot, triple-decker), McMahonwich (``still a Chicago favorite``), Wayne Gretzky (``guaranteed to make you score``), or Mike McCaskey (beef and turkey)? Some descriptions still could use some updating. The menu says the deli`s Chicago Clubs are ``guaranteed to make you choke in September.`` (They clinched in September. The choke was in October.)

- Border warfare: Wisconsin`s appointment of Barry Alvarez is sure to heat its rivalry with Iowa. Hawkeye coach Hayden Fry has been cool on the subject of Alvarez, his former linebackers coach, ever since he left in March of `87 to join Lou Holtz at Notre Dame. Now comes word Alvarez has hired two assistants at Iowa, where he spent eight years. The Hawkeye staff hasn`t been one big, happy family under the 60-year-old Fry in the past few seasons. Shortly after Alvarez left, Hawkeye offensive coordinator Bill Snyder preferred taking over one of the nation`s worst Division I programs, Kansas State, to remaining in Iowa City.

- Aces: Its organizational problems withstanding, things may be looking up in the next decade for the men`s side of U.S. tennis. For the first time in memory, the final ATP international rankings for `89 show six Americans in the top 10-John McEnroe (4), Michael Chang (5), Brad Gilbert (6), Andre Agassi

(7), Aaron Krickstein (8), and Jay Berger (10). What`s especially promising is that Jimmy Connors, who hasn`t won anything of consequence in years, dropped from the top 10. Also dropping from the top 10 was Mats Wilander. Ivan Lendl should get Comeback of The Year honors. He`s back to No. 1 in the final ratings, after losing it in `88. That`s the first time since the ATP has been keeping score in `73 that anyone has regained the top spot. On the women`s side, the big news can be summed in two words: Monica Seles. She zoomed from 86th to sixth in just one year. . . . All told, there were six new faces in the men`s top 10 and three for women.

- Day at the races: Do we have another Lou Gehrig in the making in Eugene ``Izzy`` Pryzbyla? Can Izzy turn Phil Georgeff into Wally Pipp?

Explanation: Gehrig, after replacing the injured Pipp in the Yankee lineup, went on to set a major league record for consecutive games at 2,130. Friday, Izzy replaces Georgeff as the Hawthorne Race Course announcer. This means Phil`s string of consecutive calls at the track will end at 18,691. He never has missed a Hawthorne race in 21 years, but he`s taking that day off to be the celebrity movie critic on Channel 5 with Bob Sirott. Unlike Pipp, Phil sees himself returning to the lineup. ``I don`t think that Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel have to start worrying,`` he said. Sorry, Izzy.

- News, notes & nonsense: Ex-Bears Mike Pyle and Ronnie Bull, plus Bulls announcer Red Kerr, have agreed to become part of an athletes-for-Jim Edgar group to boost the Republican`s bid for Illinois governor . . . . John Paxson will be the guest on Dan McNeill`s Bull Report Show Thursday evening at Reilly`s Daughter in Oak Lawn. . . . Good hunch bet: On the day Joe DiMaggio celebrated his 75th birthday at Bay Meadows in California, a horse named A Man To Remember, 4-year-old son of DiMaggio, was an easy winner in the seventh race. . . . Lisa Fitch, daughter of NBA coach Bill Fitch, is 2-5 in her first season as head coach of Akron`s Lady Zips.

- And finally: With all the stories linking John Mackovic to NFL vacancies, here`s an interesting thought: Maybe the coach will leave the Illini and quarterback Jeff George, rumored to be coming out early for the draft, will stay. (Don`t count on it.)